Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, is still undecided of whether to doge the draft and lose the respect of his family and friends, or go to the Vietnam War and lose his life, in the chapter “On The Rainy River”. Elroy’s actions reveal his good qualities that help Tim make this important decision, without any words of judgment or criticism. Elroy’s actions reveal heroic qualities. He is a silent Observer who helps Tim overcome his fears.
When Tim decided to leave his hometown of Worthington, Minnesota and drive almost five hundred miles to International Falls, Minnesota, he was unsure of what he was really doing. He knew he just had to leave. He ended up at the Tip Top Lodge, which was located on a peninsula on the Rainy River. It was owned by an eighty-one year old man, Elroy Berdahl. Tim describes him as “… skinny and shrunken and mostly bald. He wore a flannel shirt and brown workpants” (48). Elroy was smart man, and from his experience with all different kinds of people, he knew that Tim was in trouble and needed help. He gave Tim a room without asking any questions. His self-control for not forcing Tim to talk shows that Elroy was nonjudgmental.
Elroy spends a great deal of time with Tim. He allows Tim to help him with the work that is needed for the winter around the lodge. Tim helped Elroy sweep the cabins, bring the boats in, and cu...
Life can sometime bring unwanted events that individuals might not be willing to face it. This was the conflict of O’Brien in the story, “On The Rainy River”. As the author and the character O’Brien describes his experiences about the draft to the Vietnam War. He face the conflict of whether he must or must not go to the war, in this moment O’Brien thinking that he is so good for war, and that he should not be lost in that way. He also show that he disagree with the consbet of the war, how killing people will benefit the country. In addition O’Brien was terrifying of the idea of leaving his family, friends, and everything that he has done in the past years.
In The Things They Carried, an engaging novel of war, author Tim O’Brien shares the unique warfare experience of the Alpha Company, an assembly of American military men that set off to fight for their country in the gruesome Vietnam War. Within the novel, the author O’Brien uses the character Tim O’Brien to narrate and remark on his own experience as well as the experiences of his fellow soldiers in the Alpha Company. Throughout the story, O’Brien gives the reader a raw perspective of the Alpha Company’s military life in Vietnam. He sheds light on both the tangible and intangible things a soldier must bear as he trudges along the battlefield in hope for freedom from war and bloodshed. As the narrator, O’Brien displayed a broad imagination, retentive memory, and detailed descriptions of his past as well as present situations. 5. The author successfully uses rhetoric devices such as imagery, personification, and repetition of O’Brien to provoke deep thought and allow the reader to see and understand the burden of the war through the eyes of Tim O’Brien and his soldiers.
Timothy Treadwell spent his summers in Alaska living with and documenting bears. He believed that by doing that he was protecting the bears from potential harm, but maybe he wasn’t helping the bears, maybe he was hurting them. Timothy had his heart in the right place when he journeyed to Alaska each year, but his actions weren’t quite what the bears needed. Timothy didn’t accomplish much while he was there, he said he was protecting the bears but he was only bothering them. Timothy became so focused on protecting the bears, that he didn’t realize all the harm he was causing. All he saw was that he was there, protecting them from anything that wanted to hurt them.
In the short story, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, each soldier carries many items during times of war and strife, but each necessity differs. This short story depicts what each soldier carries mentally, physically, and emotionally on his shoulders as long, fatiguing weeks wain on during the Vietnam War. Author Tim O’Brien is a Vietnam War veteran, an author, the narrator, and a teacher. The main character, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, is a Vietnam War soldier who is away at war fighting a mind battle about a woman he left behind in New Jersey because he is sick with love while trying to fulfill his duties as a soldier to keep America free. Tim O’Brien depicts in “The Things They Carried” a troubled man who also shoulders the burden of guilt when he loses one of his men to an ambush.
The novel, “The Things They Carried”, is about the experiences of Tim O’Brian and his fellow platoon members during their time fighting in the Vietnam War. They face much adversity that can only be encountered in the horrors of fighting a war. The men experience death of friends, civilians, enemies and at points loss of their rationale. In turn, the soldiers use a spectrum of methods to cope with the hardships of war, dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions all allow an escape from the horrors of Vietnam that they experience most days.
Lennie appeared out of the brush by the deep, green pool of the Salinas River. He had been running. He knelt down quietly by the pool’s edge and drank barely touching his lips to the water. He finished drinking and sat down embracing his knees on the bank, facing the trail entrance. He became very skittish and jumpy. Every little noise prodded for his attention. He knew he had made a huge mistake and George would be mad at him. He had remembered though, that George told him to hide here and wait for him.
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
The title of the book itself couldn’t be more fitting. The Things They Carried is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Tim O'Brien about soldiers trying to live through the Vietnam War. These men deal with many struggles and hardships. Throughout this essay I will provide insight into three of the the numerous themes seen throughout the novel: burdens, truth, and death.
Written by author Tim O’Brien after his own experience in Vietnam, “The Things They Carried” is a short story that introduces the reader to the experiences of soldiers away at war. O’Brien uses potent metaphors with a third person narrator to shape each character. In doing so, the reader is able to sympathize with the internal and external struggles the men endure. These symbolic comparisons often give even the smallest details great literary weight, due to their dual meanings. The symbolism in “The Things They Carried” guides the reader through the complex development of characters by establishing their humanity during the inhumane circumstance of war, articulating what the men need for emotional and spiritual survival, and by revealing the character’s psychological burdens.
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” imaginations can be both beneficial and corrosive. This novel consists of story, truth and real truth. Throughout the novel, imagination plays a big role. Tim O’Brien wrote his book about the war, mainly based on his memory of the war. He did not remember every detail of the war, thus he made up some false details to the stories to make it seem more interesting.
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien offers readers very unique and interesting view of the Vietnam War and the mentality of a soldier.
In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, numerous themes are illustrated by the author. Through the portrayal of a number of characters, Tim O’Brien suggests that to adapt to Vietnam is not always more difficult than to revert back to the lives they once knew. Correspondingly the theme of change is omnipresent throughout the novel, specifically in the depiction of numerous characters.
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero.
Literary Analysis Essay on The Things They Carried The book The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is fiction and truth wound together to create a frustrating and addicting novel of fiction about the Vietnam war. O’Brien created stories by using his experiences during the Vietnam whether they are true stories or not is an unattainable knowledge for the reader, the only person of that knowledge is only O 'Brien himself. Through his writing he emphasized the the fact that you cannot perfectly recall the experiences of your past when your telling a story but the way it is told is “true sometime than the happening-truth(O’Brien 171) which helps give The Things They Carried depth beyond that of a “true”, true story. O’Brien has many characters in his book, some change throughout the book and others +are introduced briefly and change dramatically during their time in war and the transition to back home after the war.
Tim is grieving not only for his fiancée and the six other people that died in the accident, but also for himself. He knew he was going to end his own life as the final payment for what he felt he had done wrong. He felt he had no other choice than to give everything away. He gave his house away to a beaten woman and her two children, so they could hide from her abusive boyfriend (Black, Lassiter, Blumenthal, Tisch, and Smith & Muccino, 2008). Acceptance of death comes when Tim finds out Emily has only a 3 to 5 percent chance of receiving a donor heart. He decides it is time to complete his plan (Black, Lassiter, Blumenthal, Tisch, and Smith & Muccino,